Based on Anne Holm's acclaimed young adult novel North to Freedom, I Am David chronicles the struggles of a 12-year-old boy who manages to flee a Communist concentration camp on his own -- through sheer will and determination. All he has in his possession is a loaf of bread, a letter to deliver to someone in Denmark and a compass to help get him there.
Ben Tibber
David
Jim Caviezel
Johannes
Joan Plowright
Sophie
Hristo Shopov
The Man
Silvia De Santis
Elsa
Paco Reconti
Giovanni
Roberto Attias
Baker
Francesco De Vito
Roberto
Paul Feig
American Man
Lucy Russell
American Woman
Maria Bonnevie
David's Mother
Viola Carinci
Maria
Marin Jivkov
Cecha
Robert Syulev
Angelo
Alessandro Sperduti
Carlo
Shaila Rubin
Vineyard Owner
Krasimir Kutzoparov
Camp Officer
Elisabetta Bartolomei
Woman at Party
Krasimir Radkov
Party Guest
Diyan Machev
Party Guest
Nikola Rudarov
Store Owner
Enrico Vecchi
Grocer
Dobrin Dosev
Border Guard
Malin Krastev
Policeman
Matt Patresi
Swiss Border Guard
Maxim Genchev
Policeman
Ivan Nestorov
Swiss Policeman
Stefan Shterev
Bulgarian Officer
Valeri Yordanov
Bulgarian Soldier
Clem Tibber
Young David
Adrian McCourt
David's Father
Panayot Tzanev
Quarry Guar
Nikolay Kipchev
Truck Driver
Stephen Antonie Shteref
Communist Protestor
Paraskeva Djukelova
Young Mother
Director, Writer
Paul Feig
Novel
Anne Holm
August 14, 2020
6
_**A boy flees the Iron Curtain for a new life in Western Europe**_
Escaping a concentration camp in 1952 Bulgaria, a cynical boy (Ben Tibber) stows away to Italy, traveling the peninsula to Switzerland on his way to Denmark. Will he find liberty and love or more distrust and hatred? Jim Caviezel plays a prisoner at the camp while Joan Plowright is on hand as a warm elderly woman.
Based on Anne Holm’s novel “North to Freedom,” “I Am David” (2003) is an indie drama/adventure by Paul Feig (writer/director). The movie effectively reminds us that there was an Iron Curtain from 1945-1989 and that crimes against humanity were pretty much business-as-usual for Communistic governments in USSR and Eastern Bloc countries.
The tone is realistic and low-key with a balance of cruelty, mundaneness, tenderness and amusement. Don’t expect earth-shattering events. The human potential for ugliness & atrocities or beauty & goodwill is explored. There are stereotypes but so what? Stereotypes are stereotypes for good reason (they’re often TRUE). This is a testimony to those who escaped to freedom or died trying. It’s relatively moving, but in a subdued way.
The film runs 1 hour, 31 minutes, and was shot in Bulgaria.
GRADE: B-/B
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00